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Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable types of cancer. In a new study, however, researchers found that the death rate of cervical cancer in the United States is considerably higher than previously thought.

In a new study published in the journal Cancer, the researchers have found that the risk of dying from cervical cancer might be higher and women are urged to continue recommended cancer screenings and preventive measures like having the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine.

Higher Death Rates

According to CNN, black women are dying from cervical cancer at a rate of 77 percent higher than previously estimated. On the other hand, white women are dying at a rate of 47 percent higher. The researchers noted that the previous estimates of death rates did not account for women who had their cervixes removed surgically.

To re-examine cervical cancer death rates between 2002 and 2012 in the United States, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health obtained estimated from the National Center for Health Statistics and the NCI Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results in Mortality Database.

Racial Differences

They also found that the corrected mortality rate in black women was 10.1 per 100,000 women compared with 5.7 per 100,000 previously. For white women, the corrected death rate was 4.7 per 100,000 compared with just 3.2 per 100,000 in the uncorrected data.

"Although trends over time show that the racial disparity in cervical cancer mortality is closing, these data emphasize that it should remain a priority area," Anne Rositch, lead author of the study, said as reported by Science Daily.

"In addition, many of those who are dying are over the age of 65, a cutoff point where guidelines generally no longer recommend women with crevices be regularly screened for cervical cancer," she added.